end game

Its been a while since I put up a book review. I just finished End Game by David Baldacci. My wife likes this author's books, so we've got some of them around and I think I've read a number of them, but they don't seem as good overall as some of the other folks in this genre.

End Game is the fifth installment in the Robie and Reel series. This is called the Will Robie Series on Baldacci's website, and I assume that is because it started out with him, and Jessica Reel came after. Another quick look at Baldacci's website reveals that Reel shows up in the second book in the series; The Hit.

This is a pretty easy read, and follows our two heroes to a quiet part of the country where folks can live away from the fuss of urban live, and have the freedom to do what they like. Referred to in the book as flyover country. The freedoms here include open carry laws, very little government, and even less oversight, which, in Robie and Reel's case, means very little to prevent unsavory types from setting up shop. So there are skinheads, and Nazis, and cult groups hanging out in the local tavern in the small town they are sent to to find someone. It seems like everywhere they turn, they run into some other odd neighbor, and everyone has secrets.

I haven't read the rest of this series, but I don't think its a spoiler to say that Robie is an assassin, and Reel is a sniper. Given that, I guess I don't see why these two were sent to look for someone, regardless of how dangerous the locals may turn out to be. Seems like someone with some detective skills may have been a better choice.

If you've been reading along in this series, I'm not sure how you'll feel about this one, but that's only because I don't think I've read any of the others. Of course, after I typed that, I went and took a look in The Books section of this blog, and I found that I have read one of these; the aforementioned The Hit, and I apparently enjoyed it. So I'll revise my earlier statement and say that End Game isn't as good as that one.